Return to Me
by kirathaune
Summary: Sanzo's been dead for over twenty years, and Goku wishes he would come back soon. Goku x Reincarnated!Sanzo. (This is a remix of "Be Careful What You Wish For," and a sequel to "Next Time".)


The moral of this story is that Bosatsu hears *everything*, even if you said it twenty years ago. XD

* * *

_I am here, calling the wind_  
_I am here, calling your name_  
_I am here, calling you back_  
_Return to me, return to me._

_—"Return to Me", October Project_

_~.~_

Goku munched on a peach while he sat on a large branch of one of the tall pine trees that grew along Kinzan Temple's outer wall. He liked it up here; he could get away from the over-solicitous monks, and he could watch as various merchants and travelers made their way along the rocky, mountain road. He finished the peach, wiped some juice from his chin and licked his fingers. One benefit to being a Sanzo priest was now, when he nicked a peach from one of the sacred trees dedicated to Bosatsu, no one yelled at him.

Traffic—if you wanted to call it that—was light on the road today, and Goku was just about to nod off for a little nap when he caught a flash of gold in the corner of his eye. A young man was striding down the road, his long blond hair tied back in a ponytail.

_Sanzo?_

Heart racing, Goku almost fell out of the tree trying to get a better look. His hopes fell, however, when he realized it was a woman who was wearing men's clothing, something not uncommon in the mountain villages that surrounded Kinzan. She rounded a bend in the road and disappeared from view.

Goku slumped back against the tree trunk. "Stupid," he told himself. Sanzo had been dead for twenty-three years, and Goku had spent the last five trying to find his reincarnation. During the other eighteen years, he'd done what Sanzo had wanted; he had traveled the world, and learned most of the duties of his inherited status. He had decided to settle at Kinzan Temple for awhile, but he found that the proximity to Sanzo's grave was only increasing his frustration.

_"I won't remember you, but my soul will. I'll be drawn to you, especially if I hear you calling me."_

"I've _been_ calling you," he told the cloudless sky above him. "I waited for you to grow up, and I've been calling you. Where are you?"

"Goku-sama?"

Startled, Goku peered down through the branches and saw one of the younger monks.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, Goku-sama." The monk bobbed a bow. "The abbot has asked if you would please come to his office. There has been a… disturbance, and he would like your wisdom on the matter."

Goku laughed. "Wisdom? Me?"

The monk tried to keep a serious face, but failed miserably. Goku was still laughing as he tossed the peach pit away and slid down the tree trunk, and after he retrieved his robes and breastplate from a nearby branch he clapped the younger man on the back and said, "This is a first—the old man's never asked for my advice before. Let's go!"

Goku entered the main temple building, and he heard shouting as soon as he started walking down the hallway leading to the abbot's office. Several people shouting, in fact.

"I'm telling you, we do not permit women here at Kinzan temple!"

Goku blinked. He'd never heard the abbot raise his voice in the six months he'd been at Kinzan.

"And I'm telling _you,_ asshole, the weird lady I met on the road told me to come here!"

A stranger's voice. Female. There was a raspy quality to her voice that sent a shiver down Goku's spine. He paused, his hand on the door.

"And this woman also told you to give the name of our highest-ranking priest as a reference? Do you even _know_ Son Goku?"

_What?_ Goku opened the door and went inside, and he was surprised to see the same woman who had walked along the road earlier.

"Ah, Goku-sama, you're here. This woman—"

She turned to face him, and all the air went out of Goku's lungs.

It was Sanzo.

There was no mistaking those drooping violet eyes, now flashing with anger, and that face…

But, a woman! Goku's mind flashed back to one of the last conversations he'd had with Sanzo.

_"Hey Sanzo, what if you come back as a girl? That'd be weird."_

_"Don't even joke about that, monkey. We don't want Her getting any ideas." _

"Oh, no," he groaned. _Bosatsu heard me._

The woman pointed at Goku. "_This_ is your highest-ranking priest? He looks like a kid. In fact, I saw him when I was walking here; he was up in a tree, like a monkey, eating a peach."

Goku blushed when the abbot and his assistant fixed accusing gazes on him. "Sorry," he muttered.

"Goku-sama, this woman says her name is Shan, and she claims she was told to come here for employment and give your name as a referral. Do you in fact know her?"

_What do I say?_ Goku glanced over at her and was completely distracted when she crossed her arms and scowled at him.

Sanzo had _boobs._

Granted, they were on the smaller side, but they were there, firm and round beneath the high-collared jacket she wore. It flitted through Goku's mind that they would fit perfectly in his hands.

"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen tits before?"

Goku looked up to see Shan glaring at him. "Oh! Sorry!" He hastily dropped his gaze, only to discover slim hips and a surprisingly curvy ass. At this point he didn't know where to look, so Goku stared at the floor.

Sanzo—_no, Shan_— was definitely a scary girl.

"Goku-sama? Do you know this woman?"

It was safe to look at the abbot. "Could I talk to you in private?" Goku asked.

The abbot raised an eyebrow. "Very well," he said. "Brother Piu, please take Shan to wait outside my office."

Shan rolled her eyes and followed the other monk out, slamming the door shut behind her.

The abbot folded his hands on his desk. "Well?"

"She's Sanzo," Goku said. "Uh, Genjo Sanzo. Reincarnated."

The man's jaw dropped open, and then snapped shut. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Goku said. "It's him. I mean, her. Um, him?" He sank into the chair opposite the abbot's desk. "And I think the woman who told her her to come here was probably Bosatsu."

"The Merciful Goddess?!"

Goku nodded.

The abbot frowned. "Well, this certainly changes things. If she is the _tulku_ of Genjo Sanzo—"

"She is," Goku said. He knew it, deep in his bones, deep in his soul.

"—then we cannot turn her away. Brother Piu," the abbot called, "bring Shan back in, please."

Goku was careful to keep his gaze on Shan's face as she walked back in the room, although doing so still made his pulse race—Sanzo had been a beautiful man, and his features in a feminine face were stunning. And Shan wasn't a girly girl either; she reminded Goku of Sharak, which he thought was awesome.

"Well?" Shan asked, hands on her hips.

"Goku-sama has vouched for you, and it has been determined that you were sent here by the Merciful Goddess herself. So, we will find a place for you here at Kinzan."

Shan's posture didn't change, but Goku noticed a lessening of the tension in her shoulders. _She must've really needed to find a job,_ he thought.

The abbot made some notes on a piece of parchment. "Can you cook?"

Shan blinked. "Yeah, some. Nothing fancy."

The abbot smiled. "We are not fancy, as you can see. We have been honored to have Goku Sanzo stay with us at Kinzan, but he does have a… generous appetite, and our current cook feels he cannot keep up with the demands of our high priest's stomach."

Shan snorted. "A bottomless pit, hunh?" She eyed Goku with amusement.

"You will be the cook's assistant. Brother Piu, please take Shan to the kitchens, give Brother Touyen this note, and explain the situation to him. I will look into finding suitable quarters for her."

"See you later," Goku said as Shan and the monk left, and when he turned back toward the abbot he saw the man watching him with a thoughtful gaze.

"There must be a red thread between you two," the abbot said. "I had heard that you and Genjo Sanzo were lovers."

"Yes," Goku said.

"And he has returned to you, although perhaps not as you had expected."

"Yes, and no," Goku said, and he smiled. "But it doesn't matter. He found me."


End file.
